The words behind your anime

Kawahara Reki (SAO, AW) as a Successful Light Novel Writer

People say many things about Kawahara Reki, but almost never that he is a good writer. This is quite puzzling, as we are talking about the probably most important light novel writer of 2012 – the author of two long-running light novel series (one of which took first place in this year’s "Kono Raito Noberu ga Sugoi!" ranking) that got turned into two equally successful anime series. It stands to reason that Kawahara is doing something right, even as he gets continuously bashed for his clichéd plots or simplistic villains. What is it that gets him his faithful readers?

First of all, Kawahara Reki keeps to a highly specialized topic matter – multiplayer game worlds and the people playing them. By this, he establishes a unique identity among light novel authors that allows his works to stand out in this highly homogenous field. His two series are different from most others but at the same time similar to each other. This makes it highly likely that supporters of one of his series will reach for, and find themselves satisfied with, the other one. Both of Kawahara’s series add to the other’s strength. The author keeps a delicate balance of familiarity and novelty between the two series – the topic matter is highly similar in both, but there are also at least two important differences. One of them is the main character. In Accel World, Haruyuki is the eternal underdog, easy to sympathize and identify with because of all his failings. In Sword Art Online, Kirito is the unmatched champion, vehicle of chuunibyou fantasies. Kawahara takes full advantage of those opposing character archetypes and thus caters to a wide range of needs of his audience.

Another difference is how while the characters of SAO slip into the world of online games, in AW it is the Brain Burst program itself that invades the everyday lives of its players. This slight difference is actually key to keeping the settings in Kawahara’s novels from overlapping. This in turn lets him give the stories longevity through constant exploration of the settings. The ability to churn out more volumes without losing steam is what makes or breaks a light novel series, but it is easy to see that Kawahara’s overarching plots alone would probably not be enough to glue his series together. In SAO, the characters’ only initial goal, getting out of the game alive, is accomplished within the first novel. In AW, Kuroyukihime’s crusade against the other kings seems at first to be the main plotline, but it soon enough takes a backseat to other developments. The novels maintain their continuity not through their conflicts, but the characters and the worlds they live in.

Another case where Kawahara shows his understanding of the workings of a contemporary light novel is his treatment of female characters. One of the main reasons why recent light novel series are so alike is that most of them follow a tried-and-true formula of introducing a new potential love interest in every volume. This lets authors keep things fresh even without breaking new ground, takes advantage of the illustrations that go along with a light novel, fits right in with the semi-episodic nature of the genre and is an easy way to just go through most of the common character archetypes while maintaining a decent level of popularity. While this might be the perfect recipe to write a mediocre light novel, there is no denying how potent the pattern is. Here, Kawahara’s novels set themselves apart form the main trend by featuring clear-cut main couples that progress swiftly to the “official status”, with confessions in the initial volumes of both series. But even with an established main couple and a faithful protagonist, Kawahara does not turn a blind eye to the potential of the golden pattern, finding ways to create tender (if not necessarily romantic) moments between the hero and an ever-expanding cast of female characters. Which is not to say that Kawahara mistreats his female fans. Without spoiling too much, there’s even a scene in one of the later AW novels with Takumu straddling Haruyuki on a bed and demanding for Haru to “mess him up”. While the actual significance of the scene might not be exactly what it seems, it is not entirely impossible that this is Kawahara’s way of nodding towards the yaoi enthusiasts among his readers, showing the great width of his target audience.

If nothing else, Kawahara Reki knows exactly what his readers want, and he delivers. Critics might not see his works as worthwhile, but would the tens of thousands of his fans agree?

High popularity of a work basically means that it found its way to the hearts of many – see this approach discussed in “Bakuman”, for example. Of course, conforming to the ‘lowest common denominator’ has always been criticized by more niche audiences, but this kind of argument often boils down to “my taste is superior to that of others”. There is no definite way out of quality comparisons as long as both sides do not agree on a strict definition of quality.

But all that notwithstanding, there are obviously dozens of writers out there trying to pander their way into some cash. Why does Kawahara succeed where so many of them fail? I think that’s the kind of question that I wanted to discuss here.

Is SAO and AW popular? Undoubtedly. Is this a sign that Reki’s writing is anywhere even CLOSE to good? Uhm, nope. Monetary success does not automatically equate to quality, or else Twilight would be considered a masterpiece.

Have you even read the Twilight books? It’s basically what you get when you make vampires and werewolves “hip”, so that teenagers (particularly young women, given how the wording used seems awfully similar to some romance novels I’ve had to review) would go gaga about it. Seriously, vampires that “sparkle” in daylight?

Yes, it’s that bad.

Sword Art Online is the same, if not more so. Really, when it’s staunchest defenders ADMIT that it’s a self-insert power fantasy, it really says a lot about the work, and the people who read it.

What does it say about those people exactly? For simple statistical reasons, those people probably include a sizable number of the well educated and enthusiasts of the “masterpieces” you mention. The very fact that they are readers – people who enjoy the intellectual activity of reading – makes me inclined not to take a prejudiced approach here.

But back to the main point. People have been milking vampires like crazy in recent years. There’s been plenty of “hip” takes on them, with many more dying in obscurity or never even seeing the light of the day. What is it that puts Twilight in a different league? Something just clicked, but what?

With SAO, this is an even more necessary question, as a “self-insert power fantasy” is a dozen times more generic and tired concept than “hip vampires”. If two similar works result in success and failure, there must a critical difference between the two. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to think about it as a difference in “art”, but there must at least be a difference in “craft”.

What specifically is it about Kawahara’s writing that keeps one so easily entertained? One can throw archetypes left and right, but that doesn’t mean they’ll pull a wide audience the way he has.

Despite critics (who, in terms of criticizing the lack of depth, are spot on) he knows how to make an enjoyable tale; Sword Art Online seems to utterly fly by, and I’m not the only one who feels that way given the similar thoughts by viewers on Crunchyroll (I only upgraded to premium originally to watch this and Kokoro connect as they came out). An author can have a potential idea with all the philosophical, theological, and social depth he wants, but if he cant craft it into a story, then he’s better off writing an academic piece.

One point I noticed you curiously left out (which is somewhat strange considering how often you go into details about word meaning and how they relate to the shows themselves on multiple levels) is that you haven’t made mention of the language that Kawahara Reki uses in his works.

I don’t have enough knowledge to fully appreciate or notice if his works are of noticeable quality, and with a few exceptions translations might dull the original works impact with it’s words or wordplay.

So what I think is that another factor of his popularity might also due to how easy his written text is read or perhaps it has a very natural flow that allows readers to fully immerse themselves into the novel.

Beside that, I think that another one of the positives when it comes to his works is his world building. At least, I think that he manages to describe a very fascinating setting and but in a lot of thought into weaving together a background for his cast that is often very interesting.

And while none of them really grew on me, I do think that his cast is often varied and unique, if often having many moments where they are very intolerable. I suppose part of it has to do with them being pre-teens/teenagers, though I think the inability for me to relate to them in their darkest moments has to do with how overly dramatic he likes to lay out their suffering even if it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

And I think that’s really what is my biggest criticism of his writing, and that it is uneven. He has many areas where he is clearly very talented and able to craft very great ideas and place them in his story, but it is hampered by very artificial or weak characters (or character moments) and/or forced conflicts.

The clichéd plots are something of an unfair and silly thing, since I don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing, nor is it to know what your audience wants and using that to your advantage.

It is true that I completely omit the language/writing style angle here. But almost every time you hear Kawahara called a ‘bad writer’, it’s by people who have never read anything he wrote. The impression is made based on the anime adaptations alone. So I only analyzed those aspects that managed to survive the crossover into anime form.

Granted, the anime adaptations do not particularly do Kawahara justice, especially in terms of characters. Like with any writer who places much weight on internal monologues, Kawahara’s characters often make “objectionable but understandable” decisions that seem completely silly when robbed of the context, It’s like with the Kiritsugu/Kirei conflict of Fate/zero, where the anime is very difficult to take seriously, while the original gives deep significance to every action.

Personally, I think Kawahara is a good but unexceptional writer. His success stems from his deep understanding of his audience and the light novel as a medium. But I consider that perfectly fair, as giving pleasure to readers is one of the reasons writers exist in the first place, and finding your own niche is the right of any artist.

While I have skipped both SAO and AW it was mostly due to lack of interest rather than criticizing the author. Heck, I didn’t even know Accel World and Sword Art Online were written by the same person until this post.

I admit that I too have bashed shows due to their catering to the “lowest common denominator” or “the otaku hive mind” as I like to call the mainstream JP media fanbase, but that was mainly due to personal rage than criticism against the author of the original source.

Take Nisemonogatari for example. I loved Bakemonogatari because of how it balanced everything that made SHAFT shows awesome very well while adding fanservice for good measure. Nisemonogatari on the other hand, threw a lot of what made the first season awesome and focused 95% on fanservice, especially in its numerous conversations about which of the girls in Araragi’s harem wanted to suck his strudel the most. That was what most of the dialogue boiled down to on that show.

I have a lot I could say against Kawahara, but there are a lot of people out there who try to rake in cash by writing “lowest common denominator” stories, and yet few of them have achieved half as much popularity as jim. It’s a matter of putting personal preferences aside to try and analyze the reasons behind that difference.

With Nisemonogatari, Nishio Ishin states quite openly that it’s just a bunch of his delusions in written form and he didn’t expect that to become a book. But whatever he writes sells well anyway, so the editors wouldn’t let the script go to waste. Go figure.

i read both pieces in chinese,so i can tell that translation was a big problem.but 1thing is certain,he can catch readers attention through his story,he has talent in demonstrating characters in the novel,both in and out,i especially loved how he wrote aw,the writing skill for the characters mental state is just amazing,after all, hes a good writer,and these are just the first two novel series he published,so he still has potential.not saying that hesnt improvements,but i prefer 2 look at the good side.

I have only read AW, in Japanese. I agree that Kawahara’s best moments are often connected with the psychology of his characters, especially in AW, where characters are so often locked in a battle of wills because of the Incarnate system. There were scenes when I saw anime-viewers dissatisfied with the choices characters make, but it is much easier to understand those choices in the novel.

i guess people don’t really understand what he wanted to tell trough his writings,they only see that he executes terribly,the cyber-based topic is lame,and conflicts,they did’n try to take a notice on the book’s core,Accel World especially,why this world is so full of hatred,love,anger,happiness at the same time?he mentioned a good point,the power of one’s will,what can hatred or love do to one?duel avatars and characters are not the main point,they only execute his ideas through the story,and that won’t be an easy stuff to do,so the problems of this occurred,if anyone think that Accel World is only a high-tech,conflicted piece,then you better don’t read it,because you are missing the main point,one’s self and others’.
not saying that he’s no problems in his writings,any author will have,but i think the criticizers took the problems too much,why not look at the bright sides?he’s a good writer after all,comparing to the others writing the same topic,well,anyone can say,but when it’s their turn to write,guess they won’t be much either.i appreciate K.R.’s writings,a bright start in the Cyber-based topic…my opinion only.

While criticism of a writer often tends to stick out more than positive reviews, SAO and AW are popular both in and outside Japan, so I am sure there are plenty of people who found Kawahara’s style enjoyable and his ideas worthwhile.

hi I saw all of the 25 episodes like 10 times and I keep waching it, I was wandering about the oder lite novels of S.A.O can yo make them in to episodes and make a movie. If you read this make shure that you can keep asking an find the one ho made the 25 episodes an aske him to make the other novels into episodes.

plees I’m a huge fan lke the others if anyone see dis try to publish it in all over the whorld.

Sword art online was the best anime show I have ever watched! I just finished it, and I am very satisfied with it. Kawahara reki is a really great anime writer. But, I wish he would make a second season. I need to know what happens, there can’t be an ending! I have started a few episodes on paper of this show myself, but I can’t actually get them published since its not my anime show. Maybe one day I can show him them… just maybe… I will dream of that day. Just like I want to meet hayao miyuzaki! He created the studio ghibli movies, and they are wonderful. SAO inspired me to make my own anime show and I am really grateful to kawahara reki for that! I wish I could contact him somehow, and tell him about some really amazing ideas. There are all sorts of great anime shows out there, but SAO is the best. That nervgear idea was just amazing! The SAO game reminds me of world of warcraft! Except you can actually play in your avatars body! I wouldn’t have ever thought about a game being that virtual! Maybe one day in 2022 there will be games exactly like that, and I will be waiting for those days to come! I’m 12 right now, and I’ve started alot of great anime ideas, bug none of them compare to the ideas of kawahara reki. I owe him so much! I just wish I could get the chance to meet him… he lives so far away. He’s in Japan, I’m in Arizona. Well, a human can dream! Arigatou kawahari reki

I’am really impress about his writings, both SAO and AW became my favorite anime. But i really suggest to him to make a season 2 for AW cause the story is still incomplete there are some questions remains in this anime series, if you agree then you really like AW